What are some of the most underrated games here?

GreenGobbo

GreenGobbo

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Oct 18, 2018
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おい！ said:
None of them, in fact most of the games are overrated.
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Kind of agree with this sentiment, kind of don't. Think there's a few gems hidden in all the muck that are undervalued, or at least worth the praise they get, but yeah by and large most (not all) of the super popular games here get waaaay more praise and attention than they worth.



My pick for most under-rated would be Unleashed.
Not a very big/long game, and tbh the first time I played it through there was only 1 sex-scene at the time which felt a bit underwhelming, but then I went back and actually took the time to read it. Something I rarely do with a lot of these games on f95zone.
Story for it is good. Really good.
Good enough that I think that if CarbonBlue wanted, he could easily just turn it into an actual novel instead (if he made it longer).
Like the little bit of mindfuckery going on with it right now and the way that after 2 years we (the readers) still don't really know what's going on yet fully. TBH I kind of hope some of that mystery is intentionally left unexplored/unexplained the whole way through. One of those situations where not knowing everything that going on makes it even better.
 
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Smarmint

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Some of the suggestions, I've played, and really enjoyed them. I tend to avoid non-Renpy games, just because I love the roll-back feature, and it's hard to play another game once you've gotten used to it, plus having my laptop fan on full blast just to see a static image is kind of annoying with Unity based games, but I heard lots of praise for Areas of Grey, so maybe I'll give it a try.

Offcuts is quite fun, and the visual style is unique. The story meanders a bit the last few updates, I think, and it has certainly been a long time awaiting the next update. Hope the dev continues it until the end.

Corporate Culture is definitely on my list to try, thanks for reminding me of it.

Shag the Hag was really fun. It's a lot better than it seems from the screenshots. I only wish it were longer, but it was a fun afternoon to see the story play out.

Unleashed of course is quite good. I am not sure I would call it underrated though. It might be considered overrated just based on the limited content and tiny updates lately, but I am hopeful that the dev can pull it together and release reasonable updates at least every 4 or 5 months or so. If it gets a about triple the content, it could be one of the top games here. We will see. It is one of my favorites for sure.

おい！ said:
None of them, in fact most of the games are overrated.
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You think? Maybe a handful of the most popular ones are nothing special, Milfy City and Summertime Saga come to mind, but I would say a good 2/3rds of the best rated games here, are actually quite fun to play. Sure, maybe the writing isn't Shakespeare, but its good enough to get you into the story, such that you want to see what happens next and enjoy going along for the ride.
 
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おい！

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Mar 25, 2018
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destroll said:
Kind of agree with this sentiment, kind of don't. Think there's a few gems hidden in all the muck that are undervalued, or at least worth the praise they get, but yeah by and large most (not all) of the super popular games here get waaaay more praise and attention than they worth.



My pick for most under-rated would be Unleashed.
Not a very big/long game, and tbh the first time I played it through there was only 1 sex-scene at the time which felt a bit underwhelming, but then I went back and actually took the time to read it. Something I rarely do with a lot of these games on f95zone.
Story for it is good. Really good.
Good enough that I think that if CarbonBlue wanted, he could easily just turn it into an actual novel instead (if he made it longer).
Like the little bit of mindfuckery going on with it right now and the way that after 2 years we (the readers) still don't really know what's going on yet fully. TBH I kind of hope some of that mystery is intentionally left unexplored/unexplained the whole way through. One of those situations where not knowing everything that going on makes it even better.
Click to expand...
Well I just gave the game thread a look and from what I can see from every update is that there are constant bug fixes and one that the dev cannot seem to be able to fix. Personally I would not call that underrated myself, but then everyone has their own opinions.;)

IMO all devs should be able to do a play through of their games and fix their own bugs before releasing the next update. After all they want money for their games don't they?
 
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desmosome

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Sep 5, 2018
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Honestly, any game close to 1k/month isn't really underrated. Sure, there is always the hope for more, but 1k is a moderate patreon success and what more could you ask for in this saturated market?

Like Pale Carnations is one of the best games on this site, but I didn't mention it because they do seem to have a decent amount of patrons. They absolutely deserve more, but it's pretty much reaching market cap already for content that is not aimed at the good guy incest harem romance mass market.
 
Smarmint

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おい！ said:
Well I just gave the game thread a look and from what I can see from every update is that there are constant bug fixes and one that the dev cannot seem to be able to fix. Personally I would not call that underrated myself, but then everyone has their own opinions.;)

IMO all devs should be able to do a play through of their games and fix their own bugs before releasing the next update. After all they want money for their games don't they?
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Pssst. In Unleashed, they aren't bugs. It's intentional.
 
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GreenGobbo

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おい！ said:
Well I just gave the game thread a look and from what I can see from every update is that there are constant bug fixes and one that the dev cannot seem to be able to fix. Personally I would not call that underrated myself, but then everyone has their own opinions.;)

IMO all devs should be able to do a play through of their games and fix their own bugs before releasing the next update. After all they want money for their games don't they?
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The whole thing about bugs is actually part of the mystery. They aren't actually bugs but intentional design choices based on the idea of trying to get the players to sift around through the code looking for clues about what is really going on with the game's plot and narrative. There's stuff hidden inside of the files (and some of the images) that the "bugs" in the game hint at/point you towards to get you to try and piece everything together for yourself.


But yep, we do all have our own opinions. And mine is still that more heads should be looking at Unleashed.
It's really quite a clever subversion of typical ren'py based VNs.
 
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desmosome

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Nothing is Forever is one to check out if you like great writing and story telling. Dev is amazing at creating realistic character interactions. It also gives you quite a bit of freedom in deciding the direction of the relationships with each girl, all the while keeping it within character and not just forcing a kink that doesn't make sense. Honestly, it's one of the best written games in the genre of... hmmm I think it could be classified as a dating sim/slice of life.
 
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desmosome

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Derealization. The most incredible dynamic movement of characters in a VN. They really come to life on the computer screen. Pretty heavy subject matter, but it's handled really well. Just some minor issues with odd wording here and there.
 
Meaning Less

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EP Doll is quite impressive for an RPGM game without text.
I have over 11 hours in my save and haven't finished the game yet.
 
Smarmint

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desmosome said:
Derealization. The most incredible dynamic movement of characters in a VN. They really come to life on the computer screen. Pretty heavy subject matter, but it's handled really well. Just some minor issues with odd wording here and there.
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Thanks for the recommendation. I just played it, and enjoyed it very much. Not a great deal of content yet, but pretty solid for a early release. I look forward to what happens next.

TessSadist said:
Dreams of Reality
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I love Dreams of Reality. It is right up there with a few more AVNs dealing with serious issues. Right up there I would also include One Day at a Time and Leap of Faith, as other excellent example, with a _lot_ of content each. Leap of Faith is nearly completed.
 
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TessSadist

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Smarmint said:
Thanks for the recommendation. I just played it, and enjoyed it very much. Not a great deal of content yet, but pretty solid for a early release. I look forward to what happens next.



I love Dreams of Reality. It is right up there with a few more AVNs dealing with serious issues. Right up there I would also include One Day at a Time and Leap of Faith, as other excellent example, with a _lot_ of content each. Leap of Faith is nearly completed.
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I've had someone that knows me very well say that Leap of Faith might end up my favorite game I've ever played from this type of site (I honestly don't have tons of time to play so have to be selective), and I'm planning to try it after I release another update as I heard it's pretty long.

I like One Day at a Time, I feel a little too young for a lot of the references (they seem before my time) as I don't know them all so I might be missing some bonus fun that others may get, but the dialogue is really top notch overall. I imagine people with a little more life experience in the subject get even more impact.
 
Smarmint

Smarmint

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TessSadist said:
I like One Day at a Time, I feel a little too young for a lot of the references
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Haha. Now I feel old. I love each of the characters in One Day at a Time, with all their flaws and all. I think it is the connection the MC feels with most of the characters that make it unique. The relationships aren't simply surface level like most games here.

Leap of Faith is really something special, but honestly, make sure you are in the right mood to play it. The story will hit you in the gut, several times. It is not exactly a feel good game, though it does have plenty of light-hearted moments.

By the way, it isn't underrated, because it is quite popular, but have you tried Pale Carnations? If you like Karlsson's Gambit, you will very likely enjoy Pale Carnations, though it is slightly less depraved.

I am sure you have already played Estate Dominate, which is very good, though the dev seems to have abandoned it, unfortunately. There is still a lot of content, and well worth playing for what is there if you can stand to see it unfinished,
 
Mareeeeta

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I agree about Corporate Culture.

I would add https://f95zone.to/threads/project-atmosphere-v0-3-p4-dr-mad.49245/ which is very underrated in my opinion. Great sci fi game, stunning characters, interesting story.
Maybe because of the "sandbox" tag, but it's not really a sandbox like some other games, it's only for sometimes chosing what you want to do before or give more time to some characters.


Babysitters https://f95zone.to/threads/babysitters-v0-0-5-t4bbo.30446/ is pretty interesting too, even if I don't know if it's on hold or not.



For a time AoA Academy and Chasing Sunset were underated but I guess it's not the case anymore.
https://f95zone.to/threads/welcome-to-free-will-v0-2-4-mrstrangelove.85755/ and https://f95zone.to/threads/how-to-fix-the-future-v0-2-2-mr-moonmi.80788/ does have a interesting start.

Finally https://f95zone.to/threads/tune-in-to-the-show-ep-1-robertdeadth.108168/ start 2 or 3 weeks ago and I wish the best for this one, because I really like some characters.
 
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antsz

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in my opinion Mad World is highly underrated. a game with a lot of positive reviews and just 67 patreons($165) in patreon. the game has a different story from the usual coming back home and lusting after sister and mom
 
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